Hi all,
pretty newbie here (first post!), and I want to buy an HTC Cingular 8125. I already read that the european version is the HTC Wizard, but I prefer the 8125 shapeform and keyboard. Is there a way to buy a new one in Europe?. All the customs clearance foms&procedure for one shipped from the states is even harder than paying them. Any advices? Did anyone had such a problem, how did you solve it?
TIA.
Try eBay. I live in Canada and there is no version of an HTC Wizard here, but I bought my 8125 from eBay unlocked. Has been working great for about 6 months now. Best phone ever! Generally, most sellers ship everywhere, and I am sure you will not have any trouble getting one shipped to Europe.
The shape of the Cingular 8125 is actually based off the Asian market Dopod 838. If you can find a shop out in Europe that sells second hand phones, you may be able to get one that is branded with the Dopod logos. AFAIK, Dopod (Asia) and Cingular (US) were the only ones who got the 838/8125 body style. Everyone else got the Wizard body.
Thanks zakhir_n and deathMiata for your replies, I wonder if the inner is the same in 8125/838 and in the Wizard, in terms of geometry... I mean, buying a wizard and the housing of a dopod or a 8125 and replace the bodies. Any experience?.
I was asking to buy one in Europe also for the warranty issues (buying an ebay unit from a private seller, no matter if it's unlocked or not, is warranty=0, right?). Also not to mention if something happens, I have to ship the unit to the States.
Can one buy it directly to cingular but without a contract? (the problem is not unlocking... the problem is billing, US bank account, etc...)
Thank you all!
Yeah warranty will always be an issue when buying things off eBay. Although I am pretty sure you can get warranty no problem, the issue is having to ship it and waiting for a long period of time without a phone if something happens.
Somebody I know just bought a locked 8125 from the states and then paid only $2 to unlock it. There is probably threads all over this forum showing how to do it for free. But the warranty issue is still there; even if you buy it from Cingular, if they are like any other phone company, they take their time fixing phones. Not to mention that they might not help because you aren't a customer. Anway, the wizard is a solid phone I wouldn't be too worried about anything.
And from what I can see about the housing form the 8125 and 838, the phones are exactly the same with different logos. I am pretty sure you can buy the housing and change it, but you would be getting the same looking phone with a different logo. This assumption is based on a quick glance only so don't take my word for it.
Good luck, buddy!
zakhir_n said:
Yeah warranty will always be an issue when And from what I can see about the housing form the 8125 and 838, the phones are exactly the same with different logos. I am pretty sure you can buy the housing and change it, but you would be getting the same looking phone with a different logo.
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Thanks, maybe I misexplained, I meant buying a Wizard or a Qtek (the ones available here) and also a 8125 housing (or Dopod 838 housing) via eBay, and swap the housings.... but everything points that I'll have to buy directly a 8125 from there (HTC TyTN/8525 has almost the same keyboard, but I don't need its extras over the 8125)
Thanks for your replies zakhir... I'm going to see if I can persuade an ebay seller with a good bottle of wine, in order to get lower declared value in customs declaration form
In the meanwhile, I'll keep reading the forums and learning... I soon will be posting my doubts
Hi again!
Any kind german forum-user can confirm if the VPA Compact II housing is the same as the cingular 8125 or Dopod 838 (and different than the Qtek 9100, that is the one whose keyboard I'm avoiding).
If the VPA Compact II has the same housing as the 8125 or 838 I would get it from germany... any advice on on-line shopping?
Thanks!
I'm in Europe for the holidays
I just replaced my 8125 with an 8525. Perhaps we can work something out?
PL3/384EI said:
Hi again!
Any kind german forum-user can confirm if the VPA Compact II housing is the same as the cingular 8125 or Dopod 838 (and different than the Qtek 9100, that is the one whose keyboard I'm avoiding).
If the VPA Compact II has the same housing as the 8125 or 838 I would get it from germany... any advice on on-line shopping?
Thanks!
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Click to collapse
Actually, I had a feeling that I forgot about Vodafone offered the Cingular 8125/Dopod 838 as the VPA Compact II. If Vodafone does offer the phone still I would imagine you could get it with no problem and unlock with Machina God's lokwiz unlocker (which is free, by the way).
PL3/384EI said:
Thanks zakhir_n and deathMiata for your replies, I wonder if the inner is the same in 8125/838 and in the Wizard, in terms of geometry... I mean, buying a wizard and the housing of a dopod or a 8125 and replace the bodies. Any experience?.
I was asking to buy one in Europe also for the warranty issues (buying an ebay unit from a private seller, no matter if it's unlocked or not, is warranty=0, right?). Also not to mention if something happens, I have to ship the unit to the States.
Can one buy it directly to cingular but without a contract? (the problem is not unlocking... the problem is billing, US bank account, etc...)
Thank you all!
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Click to collapse
On the last part of your post, I can comment. I purchased my 8525 from www.letstalk.com without contract. I use an AT&T SIM and I am out of contract so I wanted to keep my plan. It is possible to purchase the phone only in this way. Even though they are reputable, I would imagine the warranty only applies within the USA.
Related
After much deliberating and forum reading I finally gave in and purchased one from eBay today. I will need to unlock it when it arrives but I'm not worried about that.
First things I will do is
1) Unlock it
2) Load latest ROM if not already on there
3) Do the big storage update
Any tips / tricks people have learnt that would help me? I also have a BlueTrek G2 bluetooth headset on order.
I have TomTom5 so I will need to order a GPS device. Which ones are you all using / recommend I get?
I'll also need a car kit mount for the phone which also charges it. Again, which do you recommend?
Finally I'll need a 2GB SD card. Again, recommendations on if purchasing a high speed one makes any difference or not?
Many thanks in advance.
hi, i was thinking of doing the same thing, but i have a few questions to ask first before doing so.
1. If i get the mda compact and unlock it and update the rom to say like the i-mate one, will that basically make it an i-mate, without any of the t-mobile stuff?
2. What is a reasonable price for a t-mobile mda compact
3. what would happen about warranty if anything goes wrong with the phone, and your not a t-mobile customer?
thanks in advance
I bought an MDA compact locked to T-Mobile last week on e-bay. Paid £250 and then paid £20 to unlock it.
I have updated the Rom to Imate and can confirm that once it is unlocked it stays unlocked.
Stu
once you updated the rom, does all the t-mobile branding stuff disappear as well?
chenman said:
once you updated the rom, does all the t-mobile branding stuff disappear as well?
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Obviously...
If you use the Imate rom then all the T-Mobile branding is removed.
so what about the warranty on the phone, do you just take it back to t-mobile if there is any problems?
I once had a problem (speaker not working) with my Compact purchased from T-Mobile Germany. I sent it back for repair with an imate ROM without any problems. When it came back, it had the T-Mobile ROM installed though.
kta said:
I once had a problem (speaker not working) with my Compact purchased from T-Mobile Germany. I sent it back for repair with an imate ROM without any problems. When it came back, it had the T-Mobile ROM installed though.
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I´ve bought a UK T-mobile Compact for 250 pounds through modaco.com, sim-unlocked it and made the suckar trick with the logo/brand and NOW I want to change the rom to I-mate or Qtek - but when I do i get an country failure code?
Has anyone the latest I-mate rom???
www.importgsm.com
Anyone use these guys? I am trying to decide which version o2, imate, qtek, or t-mobile to buy of this phone. so far it seems as though imate would offer the best warranty. i take it that is why people buy from them. qtek seems to be junk for warranty service (please correct me if i am wrong). t-mobile does not seem to have an english rom - causes me work.
back a few years ago i got an XDA II from o2 to get a cheaper deal than existed on the i-mate version. never had any problems and i think i sold it at a markup from what i got it from direct from britain. now i'm back to purchase a new htc device and am wondering: what more do you get for buying from i-mate really???
hi guys regarding Importgsm they were pretty good on expiditing my order which was a tmobile mda with a qtek rom wwe, which they actually got of this website.
I bought mine for 589 + shiping. they offered one year warranty directly thru them
I am with Cingular and refuse to sign another contract to get a phone...I prefer to get my phones without signing my life away.
I have done this with 3 phones so far an have been happy. No contract ext..... so I am seeing the 8125 go for just over 400 on Ebay.....anyone know why I can buy one for a good price.....maybe get some type a warr or at least someone to call....Ebay is so NOT personal....
Thanks for your help,
Biff
People over at Howard Forums swear by Mad Monkey Boy; he carries the Type 2 Wizards (i.e. Qtek 9100, iMate KJAM, T-Mobile MDA) which have slightly different exteriors than the 8125.
I think he was wanting something cheaper than $400.... That sight was showing the Wizard for $600 which you can buy locally for less than that. For best price check ebay and craigslist. I have noticed that the MDA is usually a little cheaper than the 8125 so if you do not care about the styling get the mda you can still put the 8125 rom on it if you wish.
3waygeek said:
People over at Howard Forums swear by Mad Monkey Boy; he carries the Type 2 Wizards (i.e. Qtek 9100, iMate KJAM, T-Mobile MDA) which have slightly different exteriors than the 8125.
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People on HF must be smoking crack. It's cheaper on ebay AND locally.
That site looks terrible too btw.
I bought my Cingular 8125 in store and didn't renew/extend my contract at all. I just told them i wanted to buy it for $350 (it may be less now) which was the "buy me now" price and there were no problems.
got mine in march
paid £300 in total i ended up with:
MDA Vario brand new security seal etc
1GB mini sd
Tom Tom
Bluetooth GPS
and car pda holder which sticks to the windscreen
have you tried the new ebay express?
Thats where i bought my wizard from
Its always poppin there wizards at around $400, some with even free shipping.
Its not auction, its an online store with a real checkout cart, shipping notification and tracking number. And ebay gives you a free buyer protection for the FULL amount!
http://express.ebay.com
a quick search on "8125" showed me some phones around $400-$445 shipped. And since its the 8125 for cingular you wont need to unlock it.
If at the time you search you dont find good deals on 8125, try searching for "MDA"
Trust me, this is ---THE--- way to go if you want a brand new cheap wizard without extending contract.
I ended up picking mine up from a guy on Craigslist for $270
I'm kicking around the idea of buying a Hermes, it's a sweet phone and it seems to have fallen a bit in price since I last looked at it. When searching for the different branded versions on eBay, I noticed that I could pick up a Cingular-branded Hermes (8525) a good deal cheaper than the rest of them. Are there any major shortcomings to the 8525 over other versions of the Hermes outside of the missing front camera? Using an American GSM provider, would I even miss the front camera?
I'm on T-Mobile, but if I grabbed a Cingular Hermes I'd obviously just go ahead and unlock it and use it with my service. Honestly, I think it would be pretty sweet to get the T-Mo UK branded Hermes (MDA Vario II) and carry that around instead. Then my friends would be like "whoa dog why does my T-Mobile store not have this phone how did you score it!!!" and I would be like "hell nah homies this **** is elite". But alas, it's not worth paying $600+ for a T-Mo Europe branded one when I can get the Cingular-branded one for well under 500.
Do you guys who have used multiple Hermes' have any preference? Would I likely be just as well off with an 8525 (given that I plan to flash it) as an HTC branded "TyTN" or other HERM200 version of the phone?
Thanks!
I got the 8525... If your not going to use the video calling, why pay more?
Ron
lokmeup said:
I got the 8525... If your not going to use the video calling, why pay more?
Ron
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That's just it, though -- I'm wondering if it's even possible to use video calling in the United States. Is it?
More importantly, are there any replacement shells or cover-ups available for the 8525 such that one could make it appear not to be a Cingular device? I know I'm weird, but if I buy a Hermes for use with T-Mobile USA, I think it looks silly to have Cingular branding on the ****.
Thanks so much!
kalibar said:
That's just it, though -- I'm wondering if it's even possible to use video calling in the United States. Is it?
More importantly, are there any replacement shells or cover-ups available for the 8525 such that one could make it appear not to be a Cingular device? I know I'm weird, but if I buy a Hermes for use with T-Mobile USA, I think it looks silly to have Cingular branding on the ****.
Thanks so much!
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Click to collapse
I bought a Vodafone 1605 on Ebay and used it with T-mobile and now Cingular....I don't mind the brand name on the phone cos I know it's all the same inside
The Vario II pricing is coming down in the UK ... just got given one for £50 on a renewal which is roughly 60% less than I was quoted about six weeks ago.
(typing as I wait for a full resync on my shiny new wm6 black to complete )
You might be able to snap one up off eBay UK on the cheap if your timing is good ...
kalibar said:
I know I'm weird, but if I buy a Hermes for use with T-Mobile USA, I think it looks silly to have Cingular branding on the ****.
Thanks so much!
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Click to collapse
I am pretty sure a little alcohol and rubbing would remove the branding.... if your really desperate you could use a little nail polish remover...
I think you can buy "shells" for these phones on ebay. I don't know if they are interchangeable, aka using a Vario II shell on a Cingular 8525, but I would assume they would as long as the button configuration is similar.
chachi said:
The Vario II pricing is coming down in the UK ... just got given one for £50 on a renewal which is roughly 60% less than I was quoted about six weeks ago.
(typing as I wait for a full resync on my shiny new wm6 black to complete )
You might be able to snap one up off eBay UK on the cheap if your timing is good ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's actually a really good idea; I could only find about two total MDA Vario II's on ebay.com (which makes perfect sense), but when I went to ebay.co.uk there were ****loads. Unfortunately, it seems that most sellers only offer to ship within the UK so I'd have to find one ahead of time that would be okay with shipping to the States.
That brings my next question though. What's the deal with QWERTY vs. QWERTZ keyboards? The MDA Vario II seems to be the latter, and I've typed on a QWERTY all my life and really have no intention of switching. Is it possible to not only map the buttons to QWERTY on a Vario II, but to physically switch the keys?
Man, what a pain this is all turning out to be. I guess I should probably just score a Cingular-branded Hermes and be done with it.
Hi dee ho folks, not long regged on the forum and i did search on the forum, google, ebay and the likes before i posted so here goes
Does anyone know where i can source an actual HTC-branded Housing for the Universal? I've been given an O2 XDA Exec FOC from uncle and as the screen's cracked i thought i'd be as well replacing the case as i'll be unlocking it as well
Prefer that to the i-mate JasJar housing - JasJar sounds too like a Star Wars character i prefer not to mention!
Anyone ideas? All i can find is the O2, T-Mobile, Vodafone & Orange housings
TallPaul86 said:
Does anyone know where i can source an actual HTC-branded Housing for the Universal?
<..>
Anyone ideas? All i can find is the O2, T-Mobile, Vodafone & Orange housings
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AFAIK there's no such thing as an HTC Universal, as HTC used to sell all their phones to other companies at that time. There was no real HTC brand yet. The closest to an HTC Universal would probably be an I-mate or Qtek one, as these companies used to to have the closest ties to HTC.
here you can find different versions http://www.shope2.com/Product.php?cpath=1_171_178 they do have also other parts. buttt it is not cheap.. dont know whether you wanted to invest that money for a old device.